So quick question: do you have a phone? I’m going to tell you to stop thinking about your phone right now. 

Years ago, I had a staff member with whom I would have regular meetings. I would be talking to him and he would be typing on his phone and nodding his head, not making eye contact with me.

Now I’m going to ask you to read my mind. What was I thinking when I was speaking and all I could see was the top of this guy’s head? 

It amazed me because I would always say, “Hey put your phone down.” He would say, “Don’t worry, I’m listening.” 

And that was before we had smartwatches – nowadays I’ll have meetings and the other person is just looking at their wrist. What are they thinking about? They are probably not thinking about what we are talking about. So it just reinforces to me the power that our minds have over our ability to interact with the world around us, and our ability to make positive steps towards whatever goals might lie out ahead. 

Years ago, Joy and I went to a conference and the guy was a wonderful communicator. He told a story of his young daughter who had been riding a bicycle with training wheels, and the big day came when he was going to teach her how to ride a bike with no training wheels. 

So they went to a big parking lot, it was empty, no cars around, no traffic, so he took her training wheels off and was helping her get her balance. 

There was a light pole in the middle of this huge, empty parking lot. He said his daughter looked up and said “What about that pole?” And he said, “Don’t worry about the pole; you’ve got all of this parking lot to ride around in.” 

So he got her going, got her balance and she’s peddling and peddling. He turned her loose as she got her forward momentum and he watched her as she peddled as hard as she could  – BAM – right into the pole. Because that’s what she was thinking about; that is what she was focused on.

And so I want to bring to you a little bit of a challenge and a little bit of encouragement . When I look in the Bible in the New Testament, there are a bunch of books with odd names, written by usually an individual directed to a group of people who were trying their hardest to follow Christ.

Paul, an Apostle, wrote a book to a church in Philippi – we call it the book of Phillippians – and he makes this little comment towards the end. He is talking to a group of people who are doing their best to follow Christ and he said “Finally, brothers and sisters: whatever is true, whatever is noble; whatever is right; whatever is pure; whatever is lovely; whatever is admirable; if anything is excellent or praise-worthy, think about these things.”

So I find it really interesting that in the Bible, in those first formative years of the church as Christianity took hold and was spreading across what was the Roman Empire, these people were trying to figure out how is it exactly that we keep in step, keep our faith, and do what Jesus has called us to do?

 And in the midst of all the rest of the stuff, as Paul is getting ready to wrap things up with that last little parting shot, he said, “I want you to be careful about what you think about.”

So if it was important enough for the Apostle Paul to tell this very young church of new believers in a world that was really not friendly to Christianity, “be careful what you think about,” how much more so is it important to us? 

Let’s go back to the phones: who has social media on their phones? Who spends at least five minutes scrolling through social media every morning? We don’t have a shortage of things to think about, do we? We don’t have a shortage of things to focus on, do we? 

But, if we begin to narrow the parameters and pull that frame in, and look at what the Scripture says – true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable – that begins to draw the funnel narrower.

So it’s not to say that we can never look at something that’s not true. It’s not to say we can never have a discussion about something that might not be noble. But if you want to make progress, and especially if you are following Christ, if you want to follow after him, you’ve got to address the things that your mind focuses on. 

So just like the little girl who looked back and said “What about that pole?” If you focus on something that you’re going to fail at, more than likely you’re going to fail. That’s not just about positive thinking, it is a demonstrated fact. We are attracted to the things that we focus on.

And so what if this morning, we all said you know what? I am going to think about something that’s true. I’m going to think about something that’s noble. I’m going to think about something that’s right. I’m going to think about pure, lovely, and admirable – maybe not words you use all the time, but if you’ll start to address the things that your mind is focused on, your life will reap the benefits.

The challenge is ours today: change what you think about; change your behavior; change the world around you.

Remember – We are J-Bar — we are blessed beyond measure. We love — we are thankful beyond measure. We serve, and in so doing become the leaders that God wants us to be.”